Sunset
by SeeMeInTheShadows
Summary: All Odd Della Robbia wants to do is to find his best friend. All Yumi Ishiyama wants to do is figure herself out- especially now that she's getting married. All Jeremie Belpois wants to do is get the girl preferably while making a name for himself. Somehow, all three of these journeys come together. AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the birthday gift for a lovely individual. _Soul Jelly_ on here or _tehjelly_ on tumblr. She is amazing and deserves all of your love. This present is, actually, almost a week late and I have it planned to be five chapters (about half has been written as of right now). It's an Au and takes place in modern America- though all places I use are, to my knowledge, fictional. Enjoy!

* * *

There is a ghost  
That eats handkerchiefs;  
It keeps you company  
On all your travels.  
-Christian Morgenstern

* * *

To his partner's annoyance, Odd Della Robbia kept a grimy CD held in a crumpled envelope that may have at one point been white, but was now a stale-yellow. The CD, which contained an ear-splitting combination of blues, country, jazz, folk, and hints of alternative, would always come out of their car's stuffed glove box on journeys such as this.

Odd claimed it added to the mood. Elizabeth Delmas couldn't help but agree; but that didn't mean she had to like it. There was just something about these trips into the desert- a dusty road below them, a cloudless sky above them, and blistering heat around them. Their car would chug along, not particularly fast, but not slow either. They had picked it up half a decade ago, the day Elizabeth had turned sixteen. It had been five hundred dollars and they had agreed to split the cost since the summer before.

Coincidentally, Elizabeth's sixteenth birthday was also the last day either of them had seen their homes or families.

Their car could seat five people; but only two could sit in it comfortably. However, the trunk was large enough to lug three bodies. The deep red paint was chipped and both the sides and the back were dented in multiple spots. That was all fine; Elizabeth and Odd both adored the car: low gas mileage, frequent breakdowns, and all. The one unforgivable feature was that the air conditioning had broken down nearly three and a half years ago, which made these trips into the desert nearly unbearable.

Their windows were already rolled down all the way but Elizabeth had taken a stack of newspaper off of their dashboard and started fanning herself.

"A bit too uncomfortable for a princess like you?" Odd asked wryly. "I bet you never had to go a day in your life without it being seventy-two on the dot."

"I didn't, in fact," Elizabeth said. "Not until I agreed to go on this goose-chase with you."

Which had been five years ago- almost a fourth of her life now. And for the past five years, Odd had asked her the same thing whenever she expressed her discomfort- reminding her of the cushy life she had led until she had moved to their old town in the midst of a tragedy.

Odd shrugged in response and continued to drive in silence. Or at least to the low sounds of some artist Elizabeth had never heard of.

At some point she must have dozed off because she opened her eyes to see darkness approaching and Odd talking.

"-off that badly last time. She'll give us a place to stay for the night. Probably."

"What?" Elizabeth muttered.

Odd flicked his eyes to his side and smiled at Elizabeth's groggy state.

"I know someone who lives around here. I think. Last time I checked. She'll probably put us up for the night."

"Probably?"

Odd shrugged. "We didn't always get along so well. She moved before you came, but she was infatuated with him and I think she was jealous of me. Or angry because I never let them get any time by themselves and I always ruined any conversation they had."

"Did he like her back?"

Odd shrugged. "I didn't really care, at the time. We've talked a bit since then but she blames me- or at least she's angry with me. I don't know. But she'll probably help us."

"Should we call first?"

Odd stared at the darkening road for half a minute and shrugged. "Nah."

With one arm he reached to the glove box and dug around, completely turning his attention from driving, until his hand clenched a small napkin. Like the envelope, it was also yellowed with age, Elizabeth noticed through gaps in her fingers. In Odd's escapade through their papers, he had let the car swerve nearly off both sides of the road. Luckily, they had seen a total of four cars in their trek through the desert and all of those sightings had been before noon.

"I hope she hasn't had dinner yet," Odd said suddenly. "I don't know about her, but her parents could sure whip up a mean meal. They're Japanese," he explained.

Elizabeth's stomach rumbled in response and she smiled sheepishly. "I'm game for food," she agreed. She reached down and grabbed her purse. It was designer and the label alone would make almost anyone jealous. It had been her sixteenth birthday present from her father.

She pulled out her wallet, also a sixteenth birthday present. It had been from Odd and it was made out of neon pink duct tape. The ends were frayed and blackened and she had been forced to fix it several times- though never with the same type of duct tape. That hadn't been a problem; running out of duct tape on their job would have led to a huge issue.

"We have two hundred…ninety three." She pursed her lips. "And sixteen cents."

"That's a lot better than I thought we were doing," Odd said.

"We'll still need to take a job soon."

Odd sighed but continued to grip the steering wheel with two hands and stare ahead. Which was something he only did when he didn't like where the conversation was going- throughout the whole trip he had driven with one hand on the wheel, his knees, or none of the above. She knew for a fact that he had snuck more glances at her than he had looked at the road, and she had been so caught up in her own reveries that there was no way she had properly kept track of his.

"We can last a few more days," he said easily.

Elizabeth placed her hand on his leg and squeezed. "I know you want to keep looking," she said calmly, "but we honestly cannot do that if we're starved to death and out of gas. We're heading to your friend's house now. Let's lie low a couple of days and see what we can pick up, okay?"

Odd reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Let's make sure she doesn't kill us first. She knows karate or kung fu or something like that."

* * *

It was ten when they finally arrived at the faded, nearly-illegible address that Odd had scrabbled down over a year ago. They had had to stop at three convenience stores to ask how exactly to get there and Elizabeth's conscience and Odd's stomach had demanded they buy something at each one. So in darkness, they got out of the car with one backpack each and a bag with Chex Mix, Pringles, and Poptarts.

This Yumi lived in a small apartment complex. Elizabeth scanned the almost-clean white siding and fairly-well kept sidewalks. It seemed nice enough- better than living out of a banged up car that was older than you were.

Yumi did not answer the door- or at least Elizabeth assumed it wasn't Yumi. He was attractive, with unruly dark hair and some of the nicest cheekbones she had ever seen on someone. He was taller than both her and Odd- not that that was a feat by any means- and he was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants and eyed the purple splotch in Odd's hair uncertainly.

Odd held out a hand and smiled brightly. "Hi, we're looking for a friend. Yumi Ishiyama?"

The man, who had not accepted Odd's hand nodded in recognition. "I'll be right back." He swung the door half shut, retreated a few steps into the apartment, and shouted: "Yumi! Some people here to see you."

"Coming!" a voice shouted back.

Elizabeth couldn't help but notice the grin that spread across Odd's face at the familiar voice. There was the sound of footsteps and the door swung fully open again. The man was back, along with a woman who Elizabeth guessed was most likely Yumi Ishiyama.

Elizabeth recognized her from pictures, though she had never paid the tall girl in black any thought besides that she had worn combat boots before they were in style. She looked similar now: straight black hair cut a little above her shoulders, but she didn't wear pure black. She was in jeans and a light blue jacket.

"Hey Yumes," Odd said, still smiling, though his voice was a bit strained.

"Odd," Yumi said, and she didn't sound angry or upset, just surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I was in the area and I thought I might drop by. We could really use a place to stay the night, but I didn't realize that you already had a guest."

Yumi's face flushed and Odd's smile widened. The man cut in and waved his hand. "No worries," he said. "I'm just hanging out for the evening- we were just watching movies."

In this time, Yumi had regained her voice. "This is William," she said.

William held out his hand which Elizabeth and Odd each shook, though Odd didn't seem thrilled about it. Understandably.

After shaking William's hand, Odd turned to Yumi, his arms spread out. "It's been a while, Yumes! Don't try to tell me that you didn't miss me!"

He took her into a massive hug which after a few seconds she joined in on. When they broke apart, Odd was grinning triumphantly, flipping a ring into the air with his right hand and snatching it with his left.

"When's the wedding and why haven't I been invited?" he asked.

Yumi grabbed the ring the next time he flicked it into the air and shoved it back on, scowling at him. "Maybe because I don't trust you not to walk off with everyone's wallets," she said.

"Oh, Yumi, all this time and you still don't trust me. You hurt me."

Yumi rolled her eyes. "It's next week, actually, if you must know. We're keeping it small. Well, as small as we could."

Odd's eyebrows rose and pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes. "Our little Yumi, getting married already. It seems just last week you beat me up for asking you to the school dance."

Yumi smirked. "Well look at yourself, Odd. Who's this unfortunate girl you've dragged with you?"

Odd broke into a coughing fit. When he was finished, he smirked and said, "well if you must know, this is my business associate. Partner, if you will. Elizabeth Delmas."

Elizabeth scowled and discreetly kicked him in the shins. To her satisfaction, Odd yelped and picked his right leg up. "She's also my girlfriend, if you want to pry."

"Uh huh." Yumi nodded and smiled, holding out her hand to Elizabeth. "I'm sorry."

"You get used to him," Elizabeth said back. "Scarily enough."

"You can stay," Yumi said suddenly.

Odd broke into a smile and leaned in to hug her. "I know you would come through for us, Yumes," he said.

His attempt was unsuccessful. Yumi held her hand up to block him. "I'm not doing this for you," Yumi explained. "I'm doing it for poor Miss Delmas over here. Can you imagine? She's stuck with you day in and day out and is probably starved for some reasonable conversation and civil company."

Yumi lead Elizabeth into the apartment, leaving a sputtering Odd at the door. William chuckled and ducked inside before Odd finally decided to follow the two.

* * *

Yumi's apartment décor reminded Odd a bit of her house when they were children. It was clean and functional and the colors were predominantly neutral. She didn't, however, have as many Japanese items lying around (besides some ornate golden fans) and he couldn't see any photographs to speak of on the walls.

Instead she has a sleek, large TV. They all sat on two couches that looked better than they felt (though she had compensated for this by having a nearly limitless supply of pillows and blankets that she usually kept out of sight). She was watching some romantic comedy with William and the coffee table was a bowl filled with popcorn and plates of chips and cookies. Elizabeth set the bag they had gotten from the convenience stores next to it and snuggled next to Odd to watch the remainder of the film.

When the movie was over they moved on to another one, but mostly talked and ate. Odd and Yumi, for two people who had apparently left on the wrong foot, bickered like siblings and teased each other mercilessly. William took a liking to both the newcomers, as they did they to him, and by the end of the evening Elizabeth felt more accepted and content then she had in what seemed like months.

By the time the second movie was over, it was late enough for William to stay over (which seemed to have been the plan from the beginning). Elizabeth was offered the guest bedroom which was very much his, but he shrugged her apologies off. Along with Odd, he was assigned to the living room and somehow Elizabeth had the feeling that those two would not get an ounce of sleep, if the way they were both eyeing a DVD collection of the newest Hospital of Horrors episodes was anything to go by.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and Elizabeth's perfect evening ended that morning at breakfast, when Yumi asked, "So why are you two here anyway?"

And Odd casually answered, "To find Ulrich, of course."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the great response! I was honestly expecting to get maybe a review and not much else. The next chapter is written (and is significantly longer than this so expect the same amount of time for it to be posted (a little less than two weeks). I hope this chapter is what you hoped it would be. It establishes some important information which will be definitely used in the next chapter. Enjoy and review!

* * *

Yumi had been subdued that day, a mood which did not seem to bother Odd in the slightest. In his own words, she had been quite the 'Ice Queen' back when he knew her and quite frankly the amount of times she had smiled the previous evening alone had had him reevaluating his opinions on alternate dimensions.

Elizabeth however, who had only known Yumi in her apparently out-of-character friendly state, had been a little more concerned. She had tried to talk to Yumi- about makeup, movies, even her upcoming wedding, but all of Yumi's responses had been less than two sentences and virtually emotionless.

It was a surprise, then, when Yumi invited them out to lunch with her. She even offered to let them take their car and she would pay for a wash. Their car, which had not been cleaned in over a year and a half, had a permanent layer of dust and grime and bird droppings. They relied on rain to give it a good washing and tap water on one of Odd's old T-shirts to wipe the windows.

Yumi instructed them to the nearest automatic carwash and the attendant had given a suggestion to what type of wash to get. Yumi mindlessly nodded before handing over a fistful of cash.

It was a hot day in late June. Clouds were a rare sighting and rain was fairly nonexistent. The attendant's palms were slick with sweat and the line seemed to stretch for miles. The longer they were parked without air conditioning, the more irritated Yumi became, until she finally snapped and instructed Odd to drive to a charity carwash some school-aged children were putting on.

Children who stared at the car in horror as the trio drove up and so Yumi offered to pay triple their rate before the child who appeared to be the leader said a word. The boy shrugged and whistled.

The children were dressed with varying degrees with swim suits and shorts. They looked positively miserable in the scorching heat and several had resorted to spraying each other with the hose. However, at the kid's whistle, the group got to work, scrubbing and scraping and groaning.

Fifteen minutes later, the car was shining brighter than it had the day Odd and Elizabeth hopped in it and drove away from home. "Now this," Odd exclaimed, "is our Ruby Manor!"

Ruby Manor, the name of the car, had been determined one night at a small bar that didn't card if you knew the right price. It had been a commemoration of sorts to the first job Odd and Elizabeth had let slip through their fingertips and had resulted in two deaths and a third degree burn and so the last thing either of them wanted had been to remain sober. So they hadn't, and the only thing they could remember that night after the parking lot was the fact that they had named their car.

Of course Elizabeth would later argue it had been one of Odd's dreams and she didn't remember a single moment of that night and never in her right mind she would have named _her car_ Ruby Manor.

They thanked the kids and drove off. Odd followed Yumi's direction to a small sandwich shop. It was blessedly cold, and the interior designer had seemed to be unable to part with both a Wild West theme and the color scheme of a kindergarten classroom. The cashier was nice, but spacey, and wore a yellow cowboy hat with orange boots.

Odd ordered something so big he couldn't bite it, Yumi ordered something with a scary amount of tomatoes, and Elizabeth ordered something she couldn't pronounce but the picture beneath it had looked absolutely divine. They decided to sit in a corner booth that was purple and had a green sign that read: _'The Saloon' _hanging overhead.

"So I've been thinking," Yumi started once they settled in and waited for food, "that if you guys don't have anywhere else to go, you can feel free to stay as long as you want."

"Wow. You're getting married next week and you're inviting us to crash indefinitely at your place? Have you finally lost your mind or were you just pretending to have it in the first placed." Odd chuckled.

Yumi took a long sip out of her drink, which was a special known only as the Frontier Flop and which no one had been able to figure out exactly what was in it- though as it was only served to twenty-one year olds, most assumed it had alcohol in it, or at least it did occasionally (it was a common consensus that said drink changed daily, depending on the ingredients available).

"I was just- what you said at breakfast today. How close do you think you are?"

Odd sighed and slid a hand over his face. "I don't know. I mean, I thought we'd been close before, but he always slips beyond our reach and we've been on more dead ends than I can count."

Yumi leaned in. "Do you think you'll ever get him?"

Odd shrugged. "That's what we have to keep hoping for. I mean, one day, he's bound to make a mistake and we'll reach in and grab it and him along with it. You know there's a rumor going around that some genius kid developed and antidote that lasts up to forty-eight hours with one go?"

Yumi's eyes widened. "Can they keep using it?"

"We don't' know, "Elizabeth said. "It's only a rumor- but if it's possible, this guy has done it. He's seriously the next Einstein, at least in the fight against X. He's created this computer program that looks for certain characteristics of news pieces to track where there might be different Cases. It's actually incredible- that's how we were able to get back on Stern's trail."

A waiter came slinking up to them, carrying three plates. He dropped them on the table, causing the sandwiches and fries to bounce a few centimeters and made a show of asking if they needed anything else before hurrying away.

The sandwiches were edible, but dry and nearly tasteless. The french fries, however, were heavenly with just the perfect amount of salt and grease.

"Do you think this guy would be able to find Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"If he dedicated his time to specifically finding him, he could probably figure out his location and the best way to get the antidote to him and pretty much do everything that has taken us five years in five days," Elizabeth answered.

"So if we want to get Ulrich, we need to find this Einstein," Yumi groaned. "Great. If finding just one guy in the entire world wasn't nearly impossible, you wouldn't even need him."

"Actually we know he lives in the US," Elizabeth added. "And maybe where."

Odd smiled. "Why else do you think we were driving around here? It's summer, ninety degrees, and our car doesn't have air-conditioning."

"I thought you were looking Ulrich."

Odd wrinkled his nose. "No. Ulrich wouldn't come anywhere close to you. He's infected, not stupid."

"So this guy, whoever he is, lives around here and is super smart. How are we supposed to know who exactly he is?"

Odd shrugged. "Ever heard of some French, smart, nerdy type guy who's name starts with a J? Because that's what we know about him."

Yumi's face went blank for a moment and then a sudden realization broke over her. "Oh. I know who it is."

* * *

Jeremie Belpois reacted incredibly well to having two strangers and one good acquaintance show up uninvited and unexpected on his door step. He let them into his house- which was predominately covered in wood and filled with bookcase after bookcase, yet still somehow airy. The top half of the walls were a pale yellow and the wood floors were covered with gorgeous rugs.

The bookcases, while mostly filled with books of all shapes and sizes and colors, also held small artifacts and knick knacks. Jeremie escorted the trio into a small living room with two soft crimson chairs and one loveseat of the same color. A map of the world as it would have been drawn in the 1300s hung on one wall and a family portrait on the other. In the middle was a small coffee table.

Jeremie left the room for a few minutes and came back with a three teacups and a plate of celery smothered in peanut butter. "We don't have any cookies right now," he admitted, "and my cousin ate the last of the cake pops up yesterday morning."

"It's fine, Jeremie," Yumi said, waving a hand. "It's not like we called to tell you we were coming or anything."

Jeremie smiled and sat down in the vacant chair. "I don't mind at all- it's nice getting some company, especially during summer break. My parents just don't understand that I _do_ have a social life, it's just at college." Jeremie laughed and, when finished, eyed Odd and Elizabath. "Still, I feel like this isn't just a social visit for pleasure. Is there something I can help you with?"

Odd spoke up first. "We need your help finding someone. He's a Case and he's been infected for almost ten years now. We're wondering if you can help make a program to help us track him down…and maybe even get an antidote into his system?"

Jeremie nodded and pushed his glasses up. "That's a tall request," he mused. "I can see what I can do, but it would be time consuming. And I might need you three to do a favor for me in return."

"What do you want?" Yumi asked him.

Jeremie smiled sheepishly. "There's this girl I go to college with. Aelita Stones. I really like her, but she went in search of her missing mother over the summer and I promised I would help. That's how I stumbled upon the way to track Cases."

"So did you find her mother?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie shrugged. "I did, but I found a lot more than that." Jeremie looked them all squarely in the eye. "I think her father is responsible for creating the disease. I tried to call her up to tell discuss it with her, but her cell phone has been turned off since summer and she hasn't responded to any of my messages online to tell her to get a hold of me. I think her father knows that I've gotten into his records, so if I try to fly to where she is to check on her, I know he'll find out- he has some pretty high connections. So if you could find her and deliver this message," he said, holding an envelope up, "that would be really amazing."

Odd, always a sucker for a good back story, promised Jeremie that they would do whatever it took to contact Aelita and Yumi was reassuring him that she would always help a friend in need- especially him. And Elizabeth was thinking.

"You know," she pointed out suddenly, "you didn't seem surprised that we figured out who you were."

Jeremie smiled and shrugged. "I wasn't trying to make it impossible to find me. Honestly, I figured that anyone who knows about me and looks for Cases should be able to find Aelita. I mean, she has pink hair."

At that moment, Jeremie's parents came home. They greeted Yumi, Odd, and Elizabeth with warm smiles and offered lemonade or tea and assorted cheeses. The three politely declined the offer- which meant that as soon as Jeremie ran upstairs to get a picture of Aelita from off the printer, Mrs. Belpois marched in with a tray of ants on a log, cheese, and a pitcher of iced tea. It would have been rude to eat and run, so when Jeremie came down, the four spent time talking about nothing and everything- meandering from conversation to conversation and altogether having a good time. "You should meet us at my place for dinner," Yumi said. "William will be there. Speaking of which, we never got your RSVP for the wedding."

"You're getting married?" Jeremie shouted.

"Yeah," Yumi said. "We sent out the invitations months ago."

Jeremie smacked his forehead. "I'm so sorry Yumi, I don't' even remember getting the letter or anything."

"That's okay, genius," Odd said, "not only will you have a lovely girl of your own to be talking to, but you, Elizabeth, and I will go out for drinks and have a great time. It'll be fantastic."

Jeremie nodded and they finished their celery and tea.

"So, meet me at my place at seven thirty, right?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie nodded. "I'll be there."

* * *

That night over dinner, Jeremie told them about Aelita. He told them how he had met her, how they got along, and how he had learned about her father. "See, it turns out her parents changed their last name when she was little.

"So where are we heading to meet this lovely princess of yours, Einstein?" Odd asked, leaning back in his chair in Yumi's kitchen.

"It's a small little town about eight hours from here," Jeremie said. "By car, I mean. I'll get you guys plane tickets to the nearest city and rent a car but it's still a good hour and half away from the airport."

"Seriously," Yumi laughed. "What's the name of this mysterious town?"

"Jupiter Junction," Jeremie said.

Suddenly, Odd choked, Yumi paled, and the glass Elizabeth was holding fell to the ground.

She and Odd hadn't laid eyes on Jupiter Junction since they ran away from it five years ago.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, you guys win the best readers award. Seriously, the response was amazing. For that reason, I feel like I need to bring up another point. And I win the worst author award. I meant to have this up months ago, but the dialogue was off and I just couldn't fix it like, at all, so I may edit it eventually. Again, sorry and thank you! (Also, in that time I did come to an important decision regarding this fic, which is excellent.)

* * *

Jupiter Junction had always been a miserable little town, Elizabeth reflected as she and Odd pulled into the town limits, slowing down to a creeping twenty-five miles per hour and attempting to see through the rain pouring around them. Located just off the highway, it was much easier to find than to find a reason to stay.

And yet, a voice in the back of her head whispered in the deep recesses of her mind, she had been happy here.

And she had been. At least when she first came. She had been delighted by the tall trees in her yard, she had loved being able to walk to the gas station and single fast food chain without any worries. She had loved the fact that she could watch cars pass in front of her house, speeding off to wherever they happened to be headed. She had been content laying in the cool grass during the evening of a warm day and being able to smell the Earth and farms all around her. It had been peaceful and everything she needed.

But that was the first summer- and ghosts never stay hidden for long. It was only a matter of time until the stories of what had happened to her house's previous occupants became known. And it was only a little after that when the comfort she had felt turned into suffocation.

Odd, who had grown up there his entire life had been ready to leave. Not because he didn't like it (though as much as he tried to pretend, Elizabeth knew that the memories had been less than pleasant), but because Odd was as curious as a cat and as energetic as a puppy, and quite frankly, a town the size of Jupiter Junction would never be able to contain him.

So they had made plans in secret to leave when Elizabeth turned sixteen and that afternoon, on the hottest day of the year, they had sped away with every intention never to come back.

And yet, here they were.

"I know we're on a time crunch here," Odd muttered, "but I definitely think I could have done with a longer trip."

"Yeah," Elizabeth muttered, "much longer."

It early afternoon and the skies were deep grey. Heavy rain fell around them and the roads leading into the town were nearly deserted, as was the town itself. "Do you think anyone will recognize us?" Elizabeth questioned.

Odd shook his head. "It's been five years."

Odd didn't sound confident but Elizabeth didn't push the point either. The beating of rain on the roof of the car is accompanied by the beating of her heart, louder and louder as they get closer and closer. As much as Elizabeth had never liked the blues-country- alternative mix Odd favored in the desert, she liked the CD he listened to now less. It was one he had made before they left but never listened to. The songs were a mix of rock and alternative- but softer than what Sissi had expected. Deep lyrics and easy to sing along to. Odd however, had remained silent besides the occasional drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

And suddenly, they were in Jupiter Junction.

The Weeping Willow at the entrance to town was still there. The businesses, however, had changed- a little more commercialized than five years ago, but the old Mom and Pop Diner still stood proudly (no one knew what it's name was, it was just known as The Diner). The movie theater wasn't playing any movies; instead the marquee was advertising a museum a few miles down the road. Elizabeth's house stood and wondered idly if her father still lived in it. She honestly didn't know.

There were two stoplights and one that flashed yellow at all times. And then, less than three minutes later, they were out of the town, heading for a hotel about half an hour away. They had considered stopping here that first day they had run, but they had wanted to get as much distance between where they had been and where they were going and so Elizabeth had not stopped driving until sunset of the next day.

They pulled into the parking lot and Odd tossed her one of the two fedoras that he had bought at the airport during a forty-five minute layover that morning. Odd had always fancied himself a mob boss, and Elizabeth had never been turned off at the idea of being a mob wife either, if she was honest with herself.

The hat was cute enough, a plaid pattern of light blues and grays. Odd had gotten a hold of a plain black hat for himself and stuffed it over his head. Although his hair was now a crew cut and his blonde hair nearly transparent, he had never quite been able to part with his purple patch at the top of his head.

He also had purchased a pair of somewhat fashionable reading glasses that had been on display next to the fedoras. The frames were thick and black and overall did nothing to help disguise him- in Elizabeth's opinion. Of course, she figured, knowing Odd and being with him consistently for five years (and through countless disguises) probably gave her the upper hand.

The two confirmed their reservations and dropped their bags off in their room. There was one queen sized bed in the middle with a desk by a window, doing little to light the room and only contributing in blocking the downpour from view. The room's light added to the pale yellow walls to make the room seem dim. The air was nearly frigid and the knobs on the heater were stuck. The room has a refrigerator but a sticky yellow substance was stuck to most of the shelves.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as she walked out of the bathroom, holding up a soaking wet towel splotched with red. "This place is…interesting."

Odd smiled and leaned back on the bed. "Let's hope we don't have to stay here long, then," he said.

Elizabeth groaned and fell face first into the bed, next to Odd. He absentmindedly started playing with her hair as she ranted. "Yumi and William are getting married right now. Did you see the food list for their wedding? They're eating teriyaki chicken wings and filet mignon and we're stuck in this dump!"

"We'll send them out to hunt someone down during our wedding," Odd soothed.

To her credit, Elizabeth didn't even lift her head off of the covers. "Was that a proposal?" she muttered.

Odd continued stroking her hair and back but shook his head. "No," he said.

"You might want to get on with that, Odd Dear. You never know-"she yawned lazily, "you never know when I'll find someone else and leave you."

"You wouldn't leave me," Odd said, "because I would take Ruby Manor with me."

"It's my car," Elizabeth protested. "I bought it; my name is on the title. I pay the insurance and for the license plate."

Odd chuckled and leaned back so he was lying next to Elizabeth. "So I guess it's a good thing you're not leaving me then."

"I guess so," Elizabeth laughed.

After a quick nap, they both concluded that it was time to go start searching for the elusive Aelita. So they made the drive back into the miserable town of Jupiter Junction. The rain had not lightened up; instead it seemed to be worse than it had been. Odd drove in the middle of the road, avoiding the puddles on either side.

There wasn't a single other car that passed them and forced him to move over. They stopped at the gas station. The white floors were slippery and Aelita grabbed a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and a box of donuts. As they paid, they asked the cashier, a large woman with black hair tied back in a ponytail and a sour expression, if she knew where an Aelita lived. They said they were college students on their way to some big city and had stopped here to say hello.

The woman shrugged and said that she had heard of an Aelita, but didn't know where the girl's house was. Then, she pushed the bag towards them and looked purposefully at the person next in line.

Back outside in the rain, Odd and Elizabeth sat down on a bench underneath an awning for a closed business. The occasional raindrop still caught them, but it was relatively dry, if not a little cold. "Okay," Odd said. "So her family isn't listed in the phonebook, by any of their fifty names. But let's think about this. The Einstein goes to some professional, high class, technology-based, research university or something, right?"

Elizabeth nodded and smiled. "And if he met her there, then she also went to some professional, high class, technology-based, research university! Or something."

"So," Odd continued, "she must be into technology. Or something."

They both turned to look across the street. A plain sign simply read: "Computers, Music, Television."

"You think it's worth a shot?" Elizabeth asked.

Odd smirked. "Can't hurt, and at the very least it'll get us out of this rain."

They both ran across the street and into the shop. The air-conditioning was running full blast and at first it seemed deserted. Music CDs and records lined the front part of the store with speakers piled high and musical instruments displayed on the side wall.

"It smells like a shoe store in here," Odd whispered.

Suddenly, a small snicker turned their attention to a little further down in the store, where computers of every shape and size were sitting. Some were sleek and new and others had an obvious cote of dust.

A figure stepped out from behind a mountain of CPUs.

She was shorter than Elizabeth but had shocking pink hair- the same pink hair they were looking for.

"Are you Aelita?" Elizabeth asked.

The person smiled brightly. "I am," she said. She held out her hands. "And who are you guys?"

"I'm Elizabeth, this is Odd. We know Jeremie."

During the introductions, Aelita had had a weird look on her face, as if trying to remember where she had put her car keys, but at Jeremie's name, Aelita's smile widened and her original confusion seemed to have disappeared. "You do?" she exclaimed. "How's he doing? I haven't heard from him all summer! I was getting a bit worried."

"That's the thing," Odd said. "He's been trying to contact you but somehow nothing has been able to get through. So he asked us to deliver this to you." He pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Aelita.

Aelita laughed and snatched the letter. "So you let him use you as his postal service?"

"Not quite," Elizabeth said. "He does owe us a favor now."

"I see," Aelita said absentmindedly as she tore open the envelope and scanned the contents of the message. "Well this favor must be pretty good if you flew all the way over here. What is it, exactly?"

"It's kind of a long story," Elizabeth said.

"Long as in long or long as in personal and none of my business?"

"Both, actually," Elizabeth consented. "But mostly because it's long."

"Well then," Aelita said. "You two must be getting hungry and I'm getting off in ten minutes. Why don't you two go get us a table for three at The Diner and I'll meet you over there and we can talk, okay. I'll pay."

Elizabeth and Odd shared a quick glance. The Diner had been a favorite hangout of theirs when they still lived in Jupiter Junction and although they had often spent starry nights laying on their backs and talking about how they would be willing to drive back to Jupiter Junction just to have one of the jam crêpes or chocolate chips waffles or steak, now that they were here it seemed risky. Odd's stomach took matters into its own hands and rumbled loudly.

"Food sounds good," Odd agreed and Elizabeth nodded. Aelita smiled happily and walked a bit further back in the store without another word. When she returned, she had a small packaged cell phone and quickly bought unwrapped it, scribbling a note on a post-it and leaving it in the bottom of the register. "They'll take it out of my pay," Aelita said. "Now go get us a table and order a diet coke for me, okay? Oh, and if they ask for the entrées, I'll have a…" she thought about it for a bit, "I'll take the Hungry-Boy Skillet."

"Now that is amazing," Odd offhandedly commented.

Aelita stared at him suddenly as if all the pieces suddenly fit together and without being aware of what he was doing, Odd rushed to the door, dragging Elizabeth with him. "We'll make sure the diet coke is sitting their when you arrive," he said.

"So she pretty much knows that we lived here before now. Or at least we've been here," Elizabeth said as the faced the wind and the rain to make it to The Diner. This may make it easier," Elizabeth reasoned. "Or maybe she'll tell someone and by the time we get to The Diner there'll be a crowd waiting for us."

"Or maybe she didn't even catch it?" Odd said half-heartedly.

"Did you see the look on her face?" Elizabeth asked. "She figured something out. Not to mention I'm sure there've been mentions of us throughout the years. We did run away. That was sure to create a bit of a stir."

"We should have used our fake names."

"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed. "But we didn't and- oh _shit_, this place smells amazing."

They had entered the door to The Diner and were assaulted by the smell that everyone in Jupiter Junction would swear was the greatest smell on Earth. The Diner had undergone small renovations since they were last there, but said renovations only served to make it more inviting. It was warm and they were seated in a corner booth immediately.

They scoured the menu which had only gotten bigger in the past five years. Their waitress came by and Odd and Elizabeth were both startled to realize that they recognized her. Brynja, a girl they had gone to school with for a short time. She didn't seem to recognize either of them and they ordered their drinks: two coffees and a diet coke.

Brynja arrived with the drinks and a basket of rolls thirty seconds before Aelita walked in, drenched. She smiled at the owner and made her way to their table. "Great," she said, looking around. The restaurant was crowded enough that there was a healthy amount of noise, but no one sitting particularly close to them.

"So," Aelita started. "There's this legend in Jupiter Junction about two lovebirds who up and left one day and no one has seen them or heard from them since. Well," she amended, "one guy, his name is Theo or something, swears that he saw you them hunting ghosts in Connecticut two springs ago or something."

She looked at them closely. "And their names were Odd and Sissi."

"I used to hate the name Elizabeth," Elizabeth reasoned. "And by the time I realized Sissi was a stupid name, I couldn't really change it, could I?"

"So you guys really are the people from the story?" Aelita asked.

"Unless there are another Odd and Sissi who ran away that we don't know about," said Odd. "Honestly, it's an honor. I just wish people would remember me for my musical prowess as well. I made a song and a video for it once, you know. They were fantastic."

Elizabeth snorted.

Aelita, wisely, didn't pry. "So what's this about you guys ghost hunting?"

Odd laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you see, we kind of picked up odd jobs for a while there. No pun intended."

"And then we found out that we were a lot better at…tracking," Elizabeth added.

"So you guys were bounty hunters or something?" Aelita asked.

They both simultaneously flinched. "No," they said together.

"We would start out looking for lost pets and stuff," Odd said, "and just returning them for some monetary award." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"And then, about eight months into our journey, we were hunting for a wolf who was killing a lot of animals in some rural, disconnected town a few states away. They didn't have many laws that cared about conservation of animals and no one was inclined to tattle so we don't even know if it was legal," Elizabeth continued for him. "So we went out searching and, well, we found it."

"It wasn't an animal," Odd said. "It was a person. He was infected with X."

Aelita didn't question what X was but she did look down and even when she looked back up she refused to meet their eyes.

"And we had never heard about this before, you see," Elizabeth said. "We had thought it was just a person with some mental issue or a practical joke. But as we were scoping this guy out, these two men came out of nowhere and tranquilized the guy and left. And then for the next four months, whenever we heard something weird, half the time these guys would be there. So we did some research and we confronted them, and eventually we pieced together what was up."

"And the reward for turning in someone who has the disease," Odd added and shrugged. "It was a good reward."

"And then we began piecing things together and have ever heard about Ulrich Stern?"

Aelita nodded minutely. "Well, we realized that it really fit that he had had it, I mean, everything," Odd said. "He was my best friend so I had been there during most of it and everything I saw fit with all of the symptoms of X. Every. Single. Thing."

"Only he's much more sane," Elizabeth said. "He didn't get an entire dose."

"And so, we just kind of made a job out of tracking down people with X and our name grew so sometimes we would track down people without X and things. And every now and then, a nutcase comes in and claims that her house is haunted and asks us to catch the ghost. Usually, the people are just batshit crazy and we just have to say a few mumbled words and they believe everything that we say. But," Odd continued, "we were never able to find Ulrich. He's way too smart and we knew we would need help."

Aelita nodded. "And that's where Jeremie comes in?"

"He's going to help us find Ulrich," Odd said solemnly. "That's really are goal right now."

Aelita nodded and looked down again. Odd and Elizabeth shared a glance. Jeremie had said that her father had created X. The terrible virus which drove people from themselves. Aelita and Elizabeth easily moved onto talking about some styles of shoes which Odd had effectively tuned out.

The bells on the door jingled, signaling that something was coming in or coming out and Odd turned absentmindedly to look at the man in the camouflage cargo pants and tan jacket and found himself staring at, speak of the devil, Ulrich Stern.

And saw Ulrich Stern staring right back at him.


End file.
